This Was My Biggest Failure On Stage

How do you build a 1M follower community and travel the world through the power of speech?In this inspiring, full-circle episode of The Public Speaking Podcast, we sit down with Nigerian storyteller, communications consultant, Victor Okafo. Four years after receiving a life-changing scholarship to study communication from one of our hosts, Alex and David JP Phillips, Victor returns as an international speaker with over one million followers across social platforms.Would you like to know how? During the conversation Victor reveals how he turned a 90-day video challenge into a full-time brand storytelling agency, why public speaking is an economic moat for entrepreneurs and creators, and the exact steps he took to transition from unpaid gigs to paid corporate stages. Plus, he breaks down the #1 ego trap killing most startup pitches and shares why mastering your voice remains the single most powerful skill in the world.Connect with StevenLinkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/victor-okafo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victor_okafor/ Website: https://victorokafo.com/ Follow us on social mediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepublicspeakingpodcast/Join our communityFree skool community: https://www.skool.com/beginnerPaid skool community: https://www.skool.com/speak Get started on your public speaking journey today at https://skool.com/speak It's where we host classes, courses, live calls and much more! Join the Best Speaking Community on the Planet! 👏 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the reason you're not getting booked to speak has nothing to do with how talented you are?In this unfiltered masterclass, our host Alexander Grabner Jarlung exposes the silent killer of speaking careers: focusing on being "good enough" instead of becoming easy to trust.Drawing from over a decade of real-world stage experience, including the humiliating day an entire conference hall emptied out right before he walked on stage. Alex breaks down why event organizers reject great speakers out of pure reputational fear. He reveals why knowing too much is a trap, how vague feedback destroys working talks, and why rehearsing alone in your living room creates a false sense of security.Don’t miss out this episode and discover if you resonate with any of these mistakes. Timestamps00:00 - Intro02:08 - Am I Good Enough vs. Easy to Trust?03:00 - When the Room Emptied Before My Talk04:40 - Why Event Organizers Say "No" 05:40 - What Paid Speakers Actually Need06:30 - Having Ideas But No 10-Minute Signature Talk10:48 - Getting Feedback From the Wrong People12:50 - 4 Questions for Highly Actionable, Precise Feedback14:02 - Rehearsing Alone in Your Living Room15:30 - What Works in Your Head is Just an Idea18:15 - Why You Need a Video Asset21:10 - You Don't Have Authentic Memorability24:30 - What Stacks Bookability26:15 - The TURBO Framework: 28:35 - How SPEAKERx Takes You From Page to London Stage33:05 - Final Thoughts & Closing RemarksConnect with Alex Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jarlung/Linkedin: https://se.linkedin.com/in/alexander-grabner-jarlung Follow us on social mediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/headgain.co/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepublicspeakingchannelWebsite: https://headgain.com/Join our communityFree skool community: https://www.skool.com/beginnerPaid skool community: https://www.skool.com/speakGet started on your public speaking journey today at https://skool.com/speak It's where we host classes, courses, live calls and much more! Join the Best Speaking Community on the Planet! 👏 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when a live stage experiment fails so hard that half your audience is gone?In this raw and transparent episode of The Public Speaking Podcast, hosts Lucas Reuterstig and Alexander Grabner Jarlung explore the high-stakes world of stage risks, bombing, and resilience. Lucas opens up for the first time about his biggest presentation failure, where everything went disastrously wrong.Lucas and Alex dissect the psychological recovery process after taking a massive hit on stage, and also explore why great speakers are like performers in a rock band, how failing with pride builds long-term authority, and the exact 3-step framework for analyzing risk versus reward before trying something radical in front of a live room.Connect with Alex Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jarlung/Linkedin: https://se.linkedin.com/in/alexander-grabner-jarlung Connect with LucasInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr_reuterstig/ Linkedin: https://se.linkedin.com/in/reuterstig Follow us on social mediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/headgain.co/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepublicspeakingchannelWebsite: https://headgain.com/Join our communityFree skool community: https://www.skool.com/beginnerPaid skool community: https://www.skool.com/speakGet started on your public speaking journey today at https://skool.com/speak It's where we host classes, courses, live calls and much more! Join the Best Speaking Community on the Planet! 👏 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"So... any questions?"In this episode of The Public Speaking Podcast, hosts Lucas Reuterstig and Alexander Grabner Jarlung unpack one of the most common, and dangerous, mistakes presenters make: handing the final impression of their entire talk over to an unpredictable room.Just like landing an airplane, the final 60 seconds of your presentation require maximum precision. Lucas and Alex break down the psychological reasons why audiences remember the ending above all else, how to handle running out of time, and the exact 4-step strategy to close your speech with authority, impact, and a lasting emotional payoff.Connect with Alex Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jarlung/Linkedin: https://se.linkedin.com/in/alexander-grabner-jarlung Connect with LucasInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr_reuterstig/ Linkedin: https://se.linkedin.com/in/reuterstig Follow us on social mediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/headgain.co/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepublicspeakingchannelWebsite: https://headgain.com/Join our communityFree skool community: https://www.skool.com/beginnerPaid skool community: https://www.skool.com/speakGet started on your public speaking journey today at https://skool.com/speak It's where we host classes, courses, live calls and much more! Join the Best Speaking Community on the Planet! 👏 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you know that most speakers lose their entire audience within the first 60 seconds of walking onto stage?In this new episode of The Public Speaking Podcast, Lucas Reuterstig and Alexander Grabner Jarlung break down the silent killer of keynotes and corporate presentations: weak, forgettable openings.Alex shares a recent real-world story where he put an entire audience through a 15-second "stress test" in the opening minute, proving why interactive hooks completely disrupt the room and demand instant attention. Together, they discuss the worst stage habits that you could do in real life.Whether you're presenting quarterly financial reports or delivering a keynote, this episode gives you practical ways to make your opening personal, high-energy, and completely impossible to ignore.Timestamps00:00 - Intro02:00 - Gone in 60 Seconds: How Speakers Lose the Room03:34 - The 15-Second "Stress Test" Stage Opening06:28 - Observations from the Amazon Nordic Event08:32 - The Worst Ways to Start a Speech10:11 - What Makes a Really Good Stage Hook?12:00 - Entertaining the Brain While Delivering Facts14:24 - How "Berta" Should Hook an Audience with Boring Numbers16:00 - Shaping Audience Emotion from the First Impression19:42 - Scanian Dialects & Authentic Persona on Stage22:00 - What's the Worst That Can Happen? Taking Stage Risks25:00 - How to Build Confidence in 14 Days27:05 - OutroConnect with Alex Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jarlung/Linkedin: https://se.linkedin.com/in/alexander-grabner-jarlung Connect with LucasInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr_reuterstig/ Linkedin: https://se.linkedin.com/in/reuterstig Follow us on social mediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/headgain.co/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepublicspeakingchannelWebsite: https://headgain.com/Join our communityFree skool community: https://www.skool.com/beginnerPaid skool community: https://www.skool.com/speakGet started on your public speaking journey today at https://skool.com/speak It's where we host classes, courses, live calls and much more! Join the Best Speaking Community on the Planet! 👏 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you go from living in a $20-a-month shack surrounded by mice to generating $50M+ in sales and standing on global TEDx stages?In this explosive, high-energy episode of The Public Speaking Podcast, hosts Lucas Reuterstig and Alexander Grabner Jarlung sit down with international speaker and investor, Steven Dossou. Steven shares his personal story where he went from hawking vacuum cleaners door-to-door in South Africa to scaling multi-million dollar organizations and building a global public speaking business.Steven pulls no punches when breaking down the reality of getting booked. He opens up about applying to over 150 TEDx and also explains the critical differences between getting booked in Europe versus the US, and breaks down his daily routine for unbreakable confidence. Plus, he introduces Real Speaking Gigs, an AI-powered tool trained on a decade of outreach data to help speakers connect directly with event organizers and land paid stages.Timestamps00:00 - Intro02:18 - The Speaker Agency Dilemma: Exclusivity vs. Freedom05:58 - 10 Tough Thoughts with Steven Dossou07:08 - Growing Up in a $20 Shack in Togo08:54 - Door-to-Door Vacuum Sales to $50 Million in Revenue11:13 - Losing Everything & Finding His True Calling in Speaking13:49 - Cold-Pitching Directors to Build a Career15:57 - The Truth About TEDx18:31 - How Credibility Precedes Paid Gigs19:11 - Getting Booked in Europe vs. The US (Market Realities)22:07 - Finding Your "Touchstone Message" & Signature Speech24:51 - In-Person Stage Energy vs. Digital Speaking28:02 - 3 Daily Habits for Unstoppable Confidence & Resilience32:59 - Guest Recommendations35:03 - How "Real Speaking Gigs" AI Helps Speakers Land Bookings37:30 - Where to Connect with Steven Dossou & OutroConnect with StevenLinkedin: https://fi.linkedin.com/in/steven-dossou-action-man-3623b5106 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steven_dossou/?hl=en Website: https://stevendossou.com/ Follow us on social mediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/headgain.co/Join our communityFree skool community: https://www.skool.com/beginnerPaid skool community: https://www.skool.com/speak Get started on your public speaking journey today at https://skool.com/speak It's where we host classes, courses, live calls and much more! Join the Best Speaking Community on the Planet! 👏 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why are facts, stats, and logic completely failing to win people over on stage?In this electric episode of The Public Speaking Podcast, hosts Lucas Reuterstig and Alexander Grabner Jarlung sit down with world famous speechwriter and author Simon Lancaster. Having crafted speeches for UK Cabinet Ministers, global CEOs, and world leaders for nearly 30 years, Simon reveals what actually makes words have power over an audience.Simon breaks down why he is sick of generic AI speeches and explains why true connection requires raw humanity, ancient rhetoric, and a bit of rockstar energy. His story going viral on social media From analyzing how Aristotle’s Ethos, Pathos, and Logos combine with modern neuroscience, to the psychological power of strategic swearing and why you should ignore everyone else’s advice when taking the stage, this episode is a masterclass in modern influence.Connect with SimonLinkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/simon-lancaster-speechwriterInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespeechwriter1/?hl=enWebsite: https://bespokespeeches.com/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thespeechwriter1Follow us on social mediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/headgain.co/Join our communityFree skool community: https://www.skool.com/beginnerPaid skool community: https://www.skool.com/speakGet started on your public speaking journey today at https://skool.com/speak It's where we host classes, courses, live calls and much more! Join the Best Speaking Community on the Planet! 👏 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What separates the top 1% of paid speakers from the 80% who leave audiences completely disconnected?In this episode of The Public Speaking Podcast, hosts Lucas Reuterstig and Alexander Grabner Jarlung sit down with Mary Tillson-Wharton, Head of Speaker Coaching and Momentum at the Speaking Business Academy. Drawing from her background as a private investigator and decades in learning and development, Mary reveals why 80% of speeches fail the audience and how elite speakers use "scoping" to ensure they nail their delivery every single time.Mary breaks down on the 4 Critical Questions, and explains why you should never deliver the exact same speech twice. She also introduces her famous WOMBAT framework, a step-by-step tool for structuring customized, high-impact presentations on short notice. Whether you are a seasoned keynote speaker or just starting out, this episode will transform the way you approach your audience, your client conversations, and your stage prep.Connect with MaryLinkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/marytillsonwharton Academy: https://www.mariafranzoni.me/ Follow us on social mediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/headgain.co/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepublicspeakingchannelWebsite: https://headgain.com/Join our communityFree skool community: https://www.skool.com/beginnerPaid skool community: https://www.skool.com/speakGet started on your public speaking journey today at https://skool.com/speak It's where we host classes, courses, live calls and much more! Join the Best Speaking Community on the Planet! 👏 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you respond when life completely strips away your voice and paralyzes half of your body?In this deeply moving episode of The Public Speaking Podcast, hosts Lucas Reuterstig and Alexander Grabner Jarlung sit down with motivational speaker Tony Mulligan. Diagnosed with a recurrent brain tumor 12 years ago, Tony has survived four major brain surgeries and after losing his ability to speak and battling severe left-side paralysis. This conversation goes far beyond presentation techniques, it is a raw, emotional masterclass on how to never lose your purpose will guide you into use your darkest moments to give hope to others.Tony shares how he conquered the terror of stepping onto stage with an uncertain voice, why saying "yes" to terrifying opportunities will transform your life.If you want to enjoy Tony’s SPEAKERx video, here’s the link: https://youtu.be/A7VWiHUsC-oConnect with TonyLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonysmulligan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonymullspeaks?igsh=a3drMmJ4aWZqOXgw  Follow us on social mediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/headgain.co/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepublicspeakingchannelWebsite: https://headgain.com/Join our communityFree skool community: https://www.skool.com/beginnerPaid skool community: https://www.skool.com/speakGet started on your public speaking journey today at https://skool.com/speak It's where we host classes, courses, live calls and much more! Join the Best Speaking Community on the Planet! 👏 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We always say that every single day in life is just a practice of how you speak, and what happens when there are no guests, no scripts, and zero filters in the studio? This is a funny episode. In this edition of The Public Speaking Podcast, hosts Lucas and Alex turn the micro-interrogations on themselves! Our famous "10 Tough Thoughts" rapid-fire quiz is being asked to both of them, uncovering hilarious personal truths, unexpected preferences, and the exact reasons behind their stage philosophies.You’ll have the chance to sit and laugh while you’re getting to know our hosts better. This unscripted conversation proves how authentic, improvised banter can build undeniable presence and connection.Follow us on social mediaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/headgain.co/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepublicspeakingchannelWebsite: https://headgain.com/Join our communityFree skool community: https://www.skool.com/beginnerPaid skool community: https://www.skool.com/speakConnect with Alex Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jarlung/Linkedin: https://se.linkedin.com/in/alexander-grabner-jarlung Connect with LucasInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr_reuterstig/ Linkedin: https://se.linkedin.com/in/reuterstig Get started on your public speaking journey today at https://skool.com/speak It's where we host classes, courses, live calls and much more! Join the Best Speaking Community on the Planet! 👏 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.